House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez yesterday contradicted the initial findings of the police dismissing terrorism as the motive behind the Resorts World Manila attack last Friday.
In a statement expressing condolences to the families of victims, Alvarez expressed the belief that the Resorts World violence was a “clear example of a lone wolf terrorist attack” that was similar to incidents in other countries that claimed many lives.
“At this point, I disagree with the conclusion reached by law enforcement authorities that the Resorts World incident was not a terrorist act but rather a criminal case of armed robbery and arson,” Alvarez stated, as he noted that the RWM incident followed numerous acts of violence in various parts of the world that were carried out by single assailants.
He said: “This is a clear example of a “lone wolf” terrorist attack targeting civilians to inflict maximum loss of life and damage to property, as what has happened in other countries.”
The House leader called on public security agencies and the military to “get their act together and put in place the highest level of security measures” to avert a similar incident from happening again in the future.
However, his House colleagues are not buying into Alvarez’s opinion which has yet to be backed by probe results.
“It’s still early to claim that. Allegedly, ang gunman natalo sa sugal at nagwala,” said Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano.
Rep. Ruffy Biazon (LP, Muntinlupa City) and Gus Tambunting (PDP-Laban, Parañaque City), both senior members of the House Committee on Public Order and Safety, said they defer to the findings of a comprehensive police and arson probe in the meantime. (Ben R. Rosario)
